Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon

that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing,

even life everlasting.

-Psalm 133:3

At the dawning of each morning is a new day full of potential and the ever present need for calm and order. The labor that beckons you out of your comfortable bed can be a joyful affair amidst mundane tasks and difficult situations calling on your capacity to problem solve. There are mountains and valleys to be conquered and traversed. A wilderness of unknown probabilities confronts your day to day routine. But so too the paved roads of ease and civilization when you step outside, ready for a new day.

We are no longer a people who regularly make pilgrimages to holy places. If some still do it is very few. Years ago, I was astonished at the sight of Catholics in Fatima, Portugal crawling on their knees at the concluding steps of their journey to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima. Here Catholics believe that Mary appeared to three children in 1917; thus a church was erected and pilgrimages are regularly kept throughout the year.

Trekking to holy sites might seem foreign to many of us today, but for ancient Israel it was an expectation to be kept yearly. Exodus 23:14-17 outlines three festivals that were to be followed:

 “Each year you must celebrate three festivals in my honor. First, celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. No one may appear before me without an offering.

“Second, celebrate the Festival of Harvest, when you bring me the first crops of your harvest.

“Finally, celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season, when you have harvested all the crops from your fields. At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the Lord.

Many in Israel did their best to honor these festive expectations and did so together in large family units that could get as big as 150 people or more! And like any good road trip there was a need for music. Some of the Psalms, like Psalm 133, were sung on the dusty roads to Jerusalem. This helped people keep their focus on God and be in harmony with one another. We can all use uplifting verses that remind us of our good Lord and Savior Jesus who blesses us with salvation and eternal life.

Today, not many will make pilgrimages like in Ancient times or like they do in Portugal, but we all have a spiritual journey ahead. Try not to do it alone, for you are prone to forget the goodness of Jesus. Instead, walk with one another.

It's a Great Time to Grow,

Pastor Aaron